Royal Mail decided against building on a haven for wildlife

A decision by Royal Mail not to build on a haven for endangered insects is a "triumph for wildlife", conservation charity Buglife has said.

Buglife, which has been fighting the development of West Thurrock Marshes near the Thames crossing at Dartford for more than two years, said it had received formal confirmation from the company it would not be moving to the site.

But the wildlife charity remains concerned another occupier will come forward and said it had been granted an appeal hearing against a High Court decision upholding the original planning permission.

According to Buglife, the brownfield site has been reclaimed by nature and is now one of the most important places for rare species in the country.

It is home to 36 invertebrates which are listed in the Red Data Book for threatened species and 17 that are on the Government's list of conservation priorities.

The site was formed by the dumping of pulverised fuel ash, a by-product of burning coal, which gave rise to habitats similar to local ecosystems such as terraced gravel grassland and upper salt marshes.

According to Buglife, only Windsor Great Park and the coastal shingle habitat at Dungeness are known to be home to more rare species than West Thurrock Marshes.

Matt Shardlow, director of Buglife, said he had received a letter from Royal Mail saying the company would not be moving to the site and had found a more suitable place in the area.

Mr Shardlow said: "This is a triumph for wildlife, we always said that there were equally good alternative sites for the Royal Mail warehouses that would not endanger dozens of rare species."

He said Buglife would continue its fight against moves to develop the site, and has been granted an appeal hearing to challenge the High Court decision to back the planning permission granted by the Thames Gateway Development Corporation.